From the publisher

'Aragorn', the hero-king from The Lord of the Rings, is one of the pivotal figures of Tolkien's mythology, but a detailed study of this popular character character has been a notable omission from the spectrum of existing study. It is nearly forty years since Paul Kocher published his sympathetic analysis in The Master of Middle-earth and his has remained one of the most insightful studies available. With the subsequent publication of Tolkien's letters, numerous versions of The Silmarillion and extensive material pertaining to the legendarium, we have opportunities unavailable to Kocher to further apprecite the character's role and to explore Tolkien's own aspirations for his king. By delving into this wealth of material, and returning to some of the principal legends that inspired Tolkien, the author unravels Aragorn's evolution from the hobbit 'Trotter' into a great Númenórean king, and considers the consequences of this unexpected transformation, in particular, examining how Tolkien utilized the character to fulfil some of the more profound functions of his wider mythology.